en0oNmAI

I know this has been a long time discussed topic. However my question is a little different. I will be purchasing some new wheels in the next couple of months and have a couple of questions.

1: For those of you running 20" wheels and a drop. Now that you have been driving on these a while are you happy with the decision?

2: With the 20" wheels have you now noticed more/less road noise?

C: With "dubs" have you noticed better cornering even though your sidewall is as thin as a rubber band?

Quatro: Wit 20's and the drop have you had excessive rubbing issues? Are they front or rear? How bad? Does it only rub with people in the back seat?

5: Has your acceleration or mpg gone down from the heavier rotational mass of the bigger wheel?

F: With the bigger wheels and a drop have you noticed un-even wear on your tires? (i.e. inside edge wearing faster..) Would you suggest a camber kit or will a creative allignment guy fix this with a different toe angle? (this worked on my old prelude btw...)

7: For those with 18's, same series of questions just replace the 20's with 18's.. (SoCalMike... what about the increased tire size? You had said you got a wider side wall how has this affected your wheel selection and ride quality? How off is your speedometer?)

Note::: I am going to increase the power and all, and realize that with bigger wheels it will add more weight and will slow the vehicle down a bit but I am going for a looks approach. Not the wild'n out body kits and rice appeal. I want a suttle look to the body. Semi-stock and clean with a nice looking set of wheels to show off. I am not a big fan of chrome but with the 20" wheels I have very little choice but the chrome has grown on me. Any help you all can give is VERY much appreciated! I have looked through all the other posts and while those are all older I am thinking long run. I don't want to purchase a set of wheels that I won't be happy with in a few months. I also understand that tire prices are higher with the bigger wheels but they seem to be coming down a bit. So once again thanks for the help in advance and I'll see you on the road...

dbarberaz

WOW guess you should be glad there is not a 3 question limit per post

en0oNmAI

I guess I really want a decent answer and not a response that says... "check this thread :link:"... This is a big decision with as much as these things cost now-a-days and I don't want to be unhappy with the selection a few weeks from now. :) And you're right.. I did have a LOT of questions!

hvrod

I have 18's

The ride is a bit rougher on bumpy roads/ speed bumps , pot holes etc.
ON smooth highway roads its fine..

I did notice lowering the vehicle , basically your struts/shocks are bottoming out, and had heard them as such.
Nothing can be done for the front struts at this time... I think
The back shocks I 've replaced with coil overs..

The rear , at some dips at highway speed I would hear a slight scrapping..
I've found rolling the fender lips, have greatly improve the side wall scrapping.. and at times the rear tires do hit the plastic fender piece.. nothing too much to worry about..

en0oNmAI

bump for some more input please?!

RUDEINC

1........Yes, I'm happy with my 20's, and yes, I'm happy with my drop (Eibach Pro Kit) and yes I would do it again.....But keep in mind of the road conditions where you live. 20's can also be a pain in the ass. (I.E. potholes, railroad tracks, road debris just to name a few) If you hit any or all of these just right....Guess what?....Tire changing time....Then hoping you didn't destroy your wheel in the process too. Could be a very costly investment.
2........My road noise is about the same. I find the HHR to be quite noisy compared to other vehicles I've owned anyway. But it depends mostly on speed/road conditions. (I have Nitto Neo Gen's on the 20's)
3........Cornering is 1000x better without question, no sidewall to flex, 20's usually have less treadwear too which is going to give better dry traction, higher speed rating over factory makes it handle like a go-kart.
4........My combo has never rubbed, front or rear. Loaded or unloaded. Rims are 20 x 7.5 with a 42mm offset. Tires are 225-30-20 Nitto Neo Gen's.
5........I don't think my acceleration has suffered much at all. But I can't really answer this 100% because my 20's have been on since about 1 week after purchase. Then I added CGS, changed to mobil one full synthetic (if it makes a difference) and I always use 93 octane fuel. The same with my gas mileage. 85% of my driving is highway (90miles round trip per day) and my DIC shows an average of 31-33mpg constantly. (reset every fill up) The best I've done on a tank of fuel was 515 miles and when I filled up I put in 15.9 gallons. This was non-spirited driving averaging 65-70 mph. I have a 2.2L with a 5spd.
6........I personally haven't noticed any uneven wear yet. I only have about 3500 miles on my wheels and tires and have been watching closely. But you can see when it is parked, looking from a distance that eventually the inside of the tires is going to wear faster because of the camber settings. I would recommend installing the camber kit only because it's easier to do it when you are changing the springs. I personally didn't need to use it with the Eibach Pro kit when I had my alignment checked after 500 miles, but it's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it.....My ..................Regards....

en0oNmAI

Thanks dude! Thats what I was waiting for! I have had goldlines for a while now and thought some were having probs with rubbing but the Eibachs don't drop as low I think..... thanks again!

EL_REY

ok so wtf is the whole fender roll thing?
i asked that in one post a while back and didnt get a very clear response..

what do u have to do, what is involved, how much do it cost, etc?


thanks...and yea i needed to know all this stuff cuz i am thinking of getting 20s and NOT dropping the H... well maybe

RUDEINC

I know the guys that are running rims that are 8.5 inches wide are rolling/trimming the rear fender lips......The fronts don't need any re-working even with the 8.5" rims.
My rims are only 7.5 inches wide with a 42mm offset, which allows the wheel to properly sit inside the wheel housing without any clearance problems. (Remember, an inch is a huge difference when it comes to wheel and tire clearance)
Rolling the fender lip......Short definition....Taking the inside edge (edge closest to the tire) of the fender lip and bending or hammering it upwards to create more clearance. Trimming would simply be removal of the lip.
I have no idea what a shop (body or tire) would charge to roll or trim, but it shouldn't be that much. Probabally an hourly labor rate, an hour or so should cover the job completely........Regards

EL_REY

i wonder if anyone would have or has posted pics of this process, and which part of the fender you would have to "cut"... wuold it be that one part in the read that kinda sticks in to where the tire is? looks like instead of the well bieng round, it kinds protrudes in